Introduction

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Average Detentions per Month

11.2

Percent of Detentions with Search or Frisk

64

Ratio of Black to White Citizens Detained

2.4

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About the Data

A temporary detention involves a police officer holding and questioning an individual for a short amount of time. To detain someone, police only need a reasonable suspicion and detentions are often accompanied by some form of search or frisk.

We analyzed 660 temporary detentions made by the City of Charlottesville Police Department between 2012-2017. The data was received in response to Freedom of Information Act requests by Jeff Fogel made over multiple time periods. We found that the CPD detain an average of 11.2 individuals per month with 64% being search or frisked. Significiantly, our analysis finds a disproportionate of detentions of black citizens compared to white citizens. In total, 603 black people were detained when compared to 259 white people creating a black to white detention ratio of 2.4.

Navigate to additional pages for further analysis:

  • Who? compares the percent of Black and White detentions to the overall population in the city.
  • What? demonstrates proportion of detentions that lead to a search and frisk.
  • Where? visualizes where Black and White citizens are detained by the police.
  • Why? shows the reason recorded by the police for the detention across Black and White residents.

Detentions in Charlottesville by Race

Who?

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Detentions per 1,000

Population estimates are from the 5-year American Community Survey 2013-2017 estimates, to overlap with the time period of the detention data; population percents are based on only the Black and White populations of Charlottesville to align with data on race available in the detention data.

By Population

Population estimates are from the 5-year American Community Survey 2013-2017 estimates, to overlap with the time period of the detention data; population percents are based on only the Black and White populations of Charlottesville to align with data on race available in the detention data.

By Year

Population estimates are from the 5-year American Community Survey 2013-2017 estimates, to overlap with the time period of the detention data; population percents are based on only the Black and White populations of Charlottesville to align with data on race available in the detention data. Missing data prior to July 2012 and data from June 2014 - December 2014

What?

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Charlottesville Detentions with and without Stop and Frisk

By Race by Year

Data missing in 2012 prior to July and in 2014 after June. All year datasets except for 2015 only include detentions that lead to an arrest. As a results, the 2015 dataset contains an added number of detentions making it appear artifically larger.

Where?

Where Do Police Detain People?

Map Details

  • These maps display police detentions from both time periods, 2012-2014 and 2016-2017.
  • Each point represents one individual stopped.
  • Points do not represent the exact locations of each stop, but the density of the dots represents the density of detainments in a geographic area.
  • To help guide your eyes, detentions that include Search and Frisk are circled in red.
  • Turn on and off underlying population characteristics through the box on the right
  • Note that the underlying population percentages are based on a comparison of White and Black populations only to align with the races identifiable in the police data files.

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Detentions 2012 - 2014 & 2016 - 2017

Detentions by Beat

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Changes Over Time

Trends:

  • Greater dispersion of stop and frisk throughout the city during the 2017
  • Noticeable decrease of stop and frisk in the Rose Hill nieghborhood.
  • Stop and frisk of black individuals in areas with predominantly student housing increased, specifically in the Grady, Rugby Road, and Emmet Street Areas in addition to the areas south of west main by the train tracks and Jefferson Park Avenue.
  • Stop and Frisk increased significantly, particularly for black individuals, in the Prospect/Orangedale Ave area.

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2012-2014

2016-2017

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Over Policing & Exclusive Spaces

The data does not record why police enter certain spaces, whether it is an officer-initiated discretionary stop or a response to a call. We also do not have data on whether or not a detainment led to an arrest. The offense listed is the reason the police officer recorded to justify the stop based on reasonable suspicion, not a determination that the offense occured. Beacuse of this, it is difficult to say that police detainments are an indicator of crime. Fewer detainments does not immediatley signify less crime in an area, just less police activity.

Below, we highlight three areas, a predominantly black residential space, a predominantly white residential space, and a public walking mall to investigate who police detain and where.

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Ridge Street & Prospect-Orangedale Neighborhoods

Martha Jefferson & Locust Grove Neighborhoods

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Downtown

# A tibble: 9 x 8
# Groups:   NAME, RACE [6]
  NAME               BEAT_NO RACE  SFTYPE           Counts total RaceTot lab_pos
  <chr>                <dbl> <fct> <chr>             <dbl> <int>   <dbl>   <dbl>
1 Martha Jefferson         8 Black STOP WITH SEARC…     -2     6      -2      -4
2 Martha Jefferson         8 White Search WITHOUT …      3     6       4       6
3 Martha Jefferson         8 White STOP WITH SEARC…      1     6       4       6
4 "Prospect\\Orange…      21 Black Search WITHOUT …     -7    29     -22     -24
5 "Prospect\\Orange…      21 Black STOP WITH SEARC…    -15    29     -22     -24
6 "Prospect\\Orange…      21 White STOP WITH SEARC…      7    29       7       9
7 Ridge St                12 Black Search WITHOUT …     -8    75     -64     -66
8 Ridge St                12 Black STOP WITH SEARC…    -56    75     -64     -66
9 Ridge St                12 White STOP WITH SEARC…     11    75      11      13

Analysis

Historically, racial covenants prohibited Black individuals from living in the Martha Jefferson and Locust Grove. That legacy continues today

  • An estimated 1401 White individuals live in the Martha Jefferson and Locust Grove Neighborhoods
  • 3 (2.14 for every 1000) White individuals were detained in the Martha Jefferson and Locust Grove Neighborhoods
  • An estimated 1731 Black individuals live in in Prospect Orangedale Ave and Ridge St Neighborhoods
  • 68 (39 for every 1000) Black individuals were detained in the Prospect Orangedale Ave and Ridge St Neighborhoods

The Downtown Mall is a public space for free use by Charlottesville residents.

  • In the periods of 2012 -2014 and 2016-2017, 26 Black individuals were detained by police
  • 22 White individuals were detained in the same period.
  • 73% of Black individuals stopped (19 individuals) were also searched and frisked
  • 31% (7) of White individuals were also searched and frisked.

Why?

What Reasons do Police Give for Detentions?

Police officers record a reason for detaining an individual. We recoded these reasons into the following categories: (1) Narcotics related, (2) Suspicious circumstances, (3) Disorderly conduct (including drunkeness), (4) Crimes on persons (e.g., assult, robbery, weapons), (5) Crimes on property (e.g., burglary, vandalism, trespassing), (6) Traffic-related (e.g., traffic stops, violations, accidents), and (7) everything else (e.g., assistance, unidentified). While several of the reasons represent categories of crimes, the recorded reason reflects the reasonable suspicion of an officer at the time of the stop, not a conclusion that the given crime has been committed. We do not have a record for whether the stop led to an arrest for all of the data provided.

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Detention by Recorded Reason

By Time Period

By Stop and Frisk

About

The Charlottesville policing data was acquired by attorney Jeff Fogel through Freedom of Information Act requests. The site was created by Michele Claibourn, Sam Powers, and Enrique Unruh in a partnership between the Equity Center at UVA and Jordy Yager’s Determined series with Vinegar Hill Magazine and Charlottesville Tomorrow.

This is a work in progress and we plan to keep building and improving it. We appreciate all feedback – questions, corrections, concerns, ideas to make it better. You can reach us at CvilleEquityAtlas@virginia.edu. The source code to generate the analysis and this site are available on GitHub.

Resources on policing in the Charlottesville community